He feels he’s leading a monochromatic life: love has eluded him. When he’s offered a chance to teach in London as part of an exchange program, he accepts, hoping a change of scenery will do him good. But once he’s there, his outlook on love and sexuality changes in ways he never expected. Robert Callinan is Noah’s English counterpart in the program. The men exchange not only their jobs, but also their homes, and it is what Noah stumbles across while staying at Robert’s house that sends him on a journey of self-discovery—both mentally and physically. A journey that puts color back into his life… just not in the way he expected. When the exchange program ends, Noah has to go home, but he doesn’t know if he wants to return to the life he left behind.

    It’s three days until Christmas and he's cold and miserable, but Addie will be devastated if he gives up.A cute guy who offers him an umbrella is just the encouragement Tate needs to stick it out, especially when Brandon brings him something hot to drink. But the signing ends before Tate can get to the front of the line, and Tate is sure he’s ruined Christmas for his niece. Luckily Brandon gets him in to see the author, who happens to be his mother.A simple thank you isn't enough for Tate, and neither he nor Brandon wants to end things there. For two men unused to such an instant mutual attraction, the Christmas season just got a little more merry.

    For Geoff, Christmas is filled with painful memories he’d prefer to wash away with his flask full of bourbon. After a diva-tastic meltdown backstage on Christmas Eve, Geoff storms out of the theater, ready to spend another holiday alone. But instead, he totally gets Scrooged. Join Geoff on a journey revisiting the heartache of his past and the blindspots of his present, with Harvey, who also has secrets of his own, along for the ride. As the night wears on, these two mismatched co-stars start to bond, but will it be enough to prevent the nightmare vision of Geoff’s future from coming true? You Got Scrooged is a short story of 18,000 words that will be sure to scratch your holiday itch. Although if it’s still itching, you might want to see a doctor.

    Especially since he gets to work at Chicago’s prestigious Ashby’s department store in “the North Pole,” doing his part to make the magic of Christmas come alive for others.All Bennett “Ash” Ashby wants for Christmas is to forget about it. Unfortunately, his father is forcing him to pay penance for the media frenzy caused by his latest public sex scandal. The Ashby heir, working as a lowly department store Santa? Only the fact that no one will know it’s really him can save Ash the embarrassment of being stuck in a fat suit instead of partying with his friends.But when Elliott catches Ash’s eye, Christmas starts to look a whole lot brighter. And even though Elliott would never have the guts to say yes if he knew who Ash really was, falling for “Ben,” the new Santa, is another story all together…

    Whatever the reason, a designated bottom is someone who's happy to surrender, to submit, or just catch instead of pitch! In Czech Me Out, by BA Tortuga, Korde discovers what it's like to fall for someone when food truck owner Josh takes on the cowboy virgin. Katey Hawthorne's gamer grad student Paul doesn't date. He keeps things strictly physical. So why is Sammy so important to him in The Mistell? Kitty shifter and stripper Aleks doesn't mix business with pleasure, but he thinks Rafe might just be the master for him in Julia Talbot's Faster Bobcat. Sean Michael's Peter isn't sure about the club his friend takes him to, especially when Doms start hitting on him. Experienced Dom Rupert is happy to help, explaining about that Little Square of Cloth. In Sgt. Hardass, by Shannon West, recent ex-Army man Jake meets up with a man he has history with, and Chad isn't sure he can explain himself and defuse Jake's anger. In the Prince of Paupers by Kiernan Kelly, Prince Liam and longtime friend Deacon have to go back to Deacon's Appalachian home, much to the prince's dismay. And in Switching It Up by KC Wells, Jay knows he looks like a twink, but only hunky Dean understands that looks can be seriously deceptive.

    What he doesn't have is someone to share it with. Berg Pedersen is out of the Army and out of the closet, and he's traveled clear across the country to spend the holidays with a former lover - until the guy's wife answers the door. Now he's stranded on Christmas Eve with no idea what to do next.Then DJ comes home and finds Berg outside his duplex, looking lost. One look into pale blue blue eyes, and DJ is curious enough to offer the guy a warm place to wait while he calls a cab, and then, on impulse, offers to make him dinner. Berg isn't sure why the tall cop seems to be into him, but he's not going to argue. After all, it's Christmas Eve, and miracles do happen.

    Sadly, Russell Moore isn’t so blessed. Since his coming out and marriage prompted a less-than-joyful reaction from his religious parents, Russ has kept his distance to avoid their conservative disapproval. With his husband David deployed overseas for the second Christmas in a row, Russ gives in to the loneliness and takes his stepchildren to meet his parents for the first time, hoping the “goodwill toward men” spirit will overcome his mother’s zealotry. But Russ’s Christmas joy is too quickly deflated by his mother’s unmet expectations, leaving Russ to ponder if peace, love, and perhaps matricide go hand in hand.

    His twin—Aidan’s other half, Nadia—died tragically young, leaving him with nothing to get him through his days but his job at the prestigious Grand Heights Luxury Apartments and the flowers he lays upon her grave. When Aidan is assaulted on the job by a tenant, it’s the graveyard he turns to for strength and solace.Patrick loves being assistant groundskeeper at the sprawling cemetery where he tends graves and offers a bit of comfort to mourners. When he sees a sad young man lingering over an old grave, his curiosity is strangely piqued for reasons he doesn’t understand. He’s never done this—struck up a friendship with a mourner. But soon that friendship blossoms into a romance.It’s not going to be easy for the pair. Aidan is so damaged, like petals crushed in an angry fist, and even with Patrick’s warm heart and Irish charm, it might not be enough to bring him back from the edge.

    When her black-sheep grandson, Adam Prescott, turns up on the doorstep, Ben has to take in the stray human as well. Adam, hurting and betrayed by family, boyfriend and Fate, needs to have his faith in others restored, and Ben decides he is the one to do it.Having gone through an acrimonious split with his boyfriend, Adam has no home, no money, no job and nowhere to go, except his grandmother's house. The son of an abusive, violent father, there's a lot of anger and resentment in him, demons he must exorcise. When he learns an unpleasant truth about his father, Ben helps him come to terms with it, and to find a new direction for his life - together, Ben hopes. But then Adam's ex-boyfriend shows up, offering him the world on a platter if only Adam will come back to him.Christmas may not be a time of celebration for Ben.

    fired, dumped, and befuddled about the future? Ben Richmond is not having a holly-jolly Christmas. In fact, life has been a wash since a knee injury ended his dream of a baseball career. He's so desperate that when he spies an ad for nude male models, he jumps at it, hoping he can pull off a grand gesture to win back his boyfriend. The only hitch? Photographer Gavin McNally. He’s demanding, seductive, and wears a pair of tight-fitting black pants like nobody’s business. Ben hasn’t been this attracted to someone in a long time, but is he really ready to call it quits with the ex?

    It's not like Sam has a choice. He cares deeply for Mitch. He even refrains from saying "I told you so."That one night of chaste comfort is all it takes to start Sam thinking about Mitch in ways he really shouldn't. A spontaneous kiss that should have helped sort things out just makes everything more complicated, because Sam is terrified sex will ruin their friendship. Mitch is afraid that pushing Sam for more will drive a wedge between them, but he's even more afraid of never trying for happiness with Sam at all.

    Growing up in a broken home with an alcoholic mother and a revolving door of truly pathetic father figures taught him to keep his expectations low. Now at twenty-seven, on the night before Christmas Eve, his life is turned upside down yet again; his boyfriend has dumped him, he just fled the holiday family reunion from hell, and now to top it all off, a blizzard has left him stranded in an airport hotel. Steve Steele has spent the better part of his forty-four years living a lie, ignoring his attraction to other men in an attempt to fit into the mold of the man he thought he should be, instead of living life as the man he knew himself to be. Recently divorced after coming home from work one day and coming out to his wife, Steve has floundered over the past year, desperately attempting to wade through the guilt and find the courage to start again.That’s when a chance meeting in a hotel bar brings two lonely men together… and what should’ve been a one night stand turns into something much more than either one ever expected.

    The only time he broke that rule, things went south fast. Now he’s on the road again, with barely enough cash in his pocket to hop a bus south after his (sort-of-stolen) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Midwest, USA.He’s fine. He’ll manage. Until he watches that girl get hit by a car and left to die.Local shop owner Grayson Croft isn’t in the habit of doing people any favors. But even a recluse can’t avoid everyone in a town as small as Clear Lake. And when the cop who played Juliet to your Romeo in the high school play asks you to put up her key witness for the night, you say yes.Now Gray’s got a grouchy glass artist stomping around his big, empty house, and it turns out that he . . . maybe . . . kind of . . . likes the company.But Eddie Rodrigues never sticks around.Unless a Christmas shop owner who hates the season can show an orphan what it means to have family for the holidays.

    He no longer has the energy to deal with mean classmates, inner doubt, and fear of familial rejection, so he takes a razor to his wrist. When he wakes up in the hospital, Shiloh meets Travis Kahn, the EMT who saved him and didn’t leave his side.Travis is handsome, smart, and funny—the type of guy Shiloh would never be brave enough to approach. But his near-death experience has an unusual side effect: the life that flashed before his eyes wasn’t the one he had already lived, but rather the one he could live. With visions of a future by Travis’s side, Shiloh will find the strength to confront his fears and build a life worth fighting for.Word Count: 18,388Edition: 2ndA story from the Dreamspinner Press 2013 Advent Calendar collection Heartwarming.

    He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool façade again. Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog—and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling—Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw. Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart?Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and romantically steamy scenes.